Pachaiyappa's College is one of the oldest educational institutions in
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
, in the
South India
South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
n state of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
. In addition, it is the first sole Indian college in
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...
.
History
Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai is the result of an act of
philanthropy
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
of its
progenitor
In genealogy, a progenitor (rarer: primogenitor; or ''Ahnherr'') is the founder (sometimes one that is legendary) of a family, line of descent, gens, clan, tribe, noble house, or ethnic group.. Ebenda''Ahnherr:''"Stammvater eines Geschlec ...
,
Pachaiyappa Mudaliar, who was a financier and merchant by the age of 22. The college had its genesis in the will of Pachaiyappa Mudaliar.
The college was established as Pachaiyappa's Central Institution at
Popham's Broadway on 1 January 1842, financially aided by Pachaiyappa Mudaliar's will. It was the first educational institution in South India which was not funded by the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
. The architecture of the institution is notable, consisting of
Indo-Saracenic
Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal) was a Revivalism (architecture), revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and gov ...
and the architecture of South India. It gained college status in 1889, and until 1947 it only admitted Hindu students.
Between 1920 and 1921,
Charles Leslie Wrenn, a scholar who would later replace
J.R.R. Tolkien as
Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon
The Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, until 1916 known as the Rawlinsonian Professorship of Anglo-Saxon, was established by Richard Rawlinson of St John's College, Oxford, in 1795. The Chair is associated with Pembroke College ...
, was the Principal and Professor of English.
In addition, Pachaiyappa's College (1842) is the 4th oldest institution in the country,
next to
Madras Christian College
Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institut ...
(1837) and
Presidency College (1840) as 3 from the top 5 oldest institutions in the country are from South India.
Administration
The Pachaiyappa's College Administration is governed by a board of trustees called Pachaiyappa's trust board. The Board oversees the long-term development and plans of the Institution and manages
fundraising
Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...
efforts. The board also control's various other Institutions in the state.
List of colleges under Pachaiyappa's Trust Board
*
Chellammal Women's College
*
C. Kandaswami Naidu College for Men
*Kandasamy Naidu College for Women (KNC),
Cuddalore.
*Pachaiyappa's College for Men,
Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: '; ), also known as Kanjeevaram, is a stand alone city corporation, satellite nodal city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from ...
.
*Pachaiyappa's College for Women, Kanchipuram.
Awards
As a remembrance and a devotion, the college awards a prize to the student who stands first among all mathematics students in the name of
S.P. Singaravelu Mudaliar, who was a teacher of renowned mathematician
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar
(22 December 188726 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician. Often regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial con ...
.
Academic departments
Undergraduate (U.G.)
SHIFT I: Aided
Arts
*B.A. (History)
*B.A. (Tamil Lit.)
*B.A. (English Lit.)
*B.A. (Economics)
*B.A. (Philosophy)
Commerce
*B.Com. (General)
*B.Com. (Corporate)
Science
*BSc (Mathematics)
*BSc (Physics)
*BSc (Chemistry)
*BSc (Plant Biology & Plant Biotechnology)
*BSc (Advanced Zoology & Biotechnology)
SHIFT II: Self-financed
Commerce
*B.Com. (General)
*BSc (Computer Science)
::Co-education
*B.Com. (Bank Management)
*B.Com. (Accounting & Finance)
*B.B.A.
*B.C.A
Postgraduate (P.G.)
SHIFT I : Aided
Arts
*M.A. (Tamil Lit.)
*M.A. (Economics)
*M.A. (English Lit.)
*M.A. (History)
*M.A. (Philosophy)
Commerce
*M.Com. (General)
Science and philosophy
*MSc Mathematics
*MSc Chemistry
*MSc Physics
*MSc Botany
*MSc Zoology
*M.Phil. English
*M.Phil. Mathematics
*M.Phil. Philosophy
*M.Phil. History
*M.Phil. Economics
*M.Phil. Chemistry
*M.Phil. Botany
*M.Phil. Zoology
*M.Phil. Commerce
*M.Phil. Tamil
PhD
*PhD Tamil
*PhD English
*PhD Maths
*PhD Philosophy
*PhD History
*PhD Economics
*PhD Physics
*PhD Chemistry
*PhD Botany
*PhD Zoology
*PhD Commerce
Notable alumni
A listing of notable alumni is published by the college. Some of those named are as follows.
Physicist
*
Anna Mani
Mathematicians
*
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar
(22 December 188726 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician. Often regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial con ...
(did not graduate),
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
Politicians
*
Kasu Brahmananda Reddy
Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (28 July 1909 – 20 May 1994) was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, India, from 29 February 1964 to 30 September 1971. On 3 June 1977, he was elected president of the Indian National Congress.
Early life
Kasu Brahma ...
, Chief Minister of
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
, 1964–71
*
Murasoli Maran, politician
*
Prof. K. Anbazhagan, politician
*
Navalar Nedunchezhiyan,
politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
, Interim Chief minister, Minister for 25 years
*
E. V. K. Sampath, politician and one of the founders of
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...
*
C. Vijayaraghavachariar, former President of the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
*
K. C. Reddy, first Chief Minister of old state of
Mysore
Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...
*
Boddepalli Rajagopala Rao, parliamentarian
*
C. N. Annadurai, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, 1967–69
*
E. Pugazhendi, Cuddalore Legislator thrice
*
Durai Murugan, Kadpadi, Vellore Legislator and Senior Most Cabinet Minister of TN State in the last 4 decades
*
P. R. Natarajan, Member of Parliament (Lokha Sabha)
*
Sachithananthan K Maravanpulavu, Srilanka Tamil Nationalist politician
Bureaucrat
*
C. K. Gandhirajan,
IPS Officer
Literary figures
*
Paravastu Chinnayasuri,
Telugu poet and professor of
Telugu language
Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. Spoken by about 96 million people (2022), Telugu is the most widely spoken member of ...
*
Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar,
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
playwright
*
Mamidipudi Venkatarangayya, history writer
*
Vairamuthu,
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
*
K. D. Thirunavukkarasu, Tamil scholar and
Sahitya Akademi Award winner
*
Tapi Dharma Rao, Telugu journalist and Sahitya Akademi Award winner
Filmmakers
*
R. S. Manohar, drama and
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...
actor
*
A. M. Rajah, singer and music director
*
D. Imman, music director
*
Na. Muthukumar, Tamil Lyricist
*
P. Rangan, Administrator , Sun TV Network Limited
Other
*
N. Madhava Rao - Former Diwan of
Kingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed until 1950. The territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted substantially ...
, Member of Drafting Committee, Mysore Civil Service (ICS Officer)
*
Robin Singh, former Indian cricketer
*
Bharath Reddy, former Indian cricketer
M. Ilanchezhian -Tamil Scholar and Writer, Professor, Rationalist
*
M. B. Nirmal, environmentalist and founder of
Exnora International
Postage stamp
On 31 March 2010, the
Indian Postal Service released a commemorative postage stamp on Pachaiyappa Mudaliar. The multi color stamp was designed by
India Security Press,
Nasik
Nashik, formerly Nasik, is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra situated on the banks of the river Godavari River, Godavari, about northeast of the state capital Mumbai.
Nashik is one of the Hindu pilgrimage sit ...
.
References
{{Education in Tamil Nadu
Educational institutions established in 1842
Arts and Science colleges in Chennai
Colleges affiliated to University of Madras